Surprise
by E4me100
Summary: He had never had much of an issue dealing with surprises. He just went with the flow. But then again, death is the most unwelcome surprise of them all.


**A/N: Finally got back on a Homestuck kick again, and after getting caught up quite a bit, I couldn't help but write this oneshot up. However, this is the first Homestuck fanfic I've written, and I'm still fairly new to the fandom, so forgive me if I've made any mistakes. Also, obviously the cover image is not originally mine, and both that and the characters of this fic belong to Mr. Andrew Hussie. ...I think that's everything I need to cover! Enjoy~**

Surprise

He stood several feet away from the body, staring at it. He didn't want to believe it was real, and for a split second his mind allowed him to think that if he just turned around and walked back the way he came, it would be gone. Dismissed. Nothing more than a hallucination of some kind.

Then the second was over, and he was faced with reality.

He took a hesitant step forward, then another, then another. His stomach twisted uncomfortably as the soles of his bright red sneakers squelched through splashes of blood on the ground, and it certainly didn't help that the air was thick with the scent of death and decay. He had never smelled it before, but even so he recognized the foul odor that would continue to haunt his conscious forevermore. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the body, legs shaking, using all his willpower not to throw up at the sight of his bro in front of him. In that moment, Dave Strider was afraid.

Never before had he felt this kind of fear. For all the years that he had spent, day in and day out, building a reputation amongst others of being the calm, cool, and collected guy with a mean poker face, he had never felt this terrified. Now, of course there had been moments in his life where he'd struggled to keep up this facade, but this...this was completely different. How was he to be prepared for something like this? A million thoughts raced through the young teenager's mind as he stared numbly at the large amounts of blood covering his bro's body, and as he finally cried out in anguish and came crashing to his knees at his brother's side, the grief of losing what he'd always considered to be his only family member consumed him.

Maybe John had discovered some weird ectobiology thing revealing that he and the other three kids he called friends were somehow connected, but that didn't matter to him now. Bro had been there as a guardian for him for as long as Dave could remember. He had never known a true father or mother, and though he'd rarely admit it to anyone, he'd admired his bro greatly...more than he would ever know.

What was he to do now? Dave had never felt more alone in his entire life. Of course, almost everybody knew of the intense sibling rivalry the two of them had shared, constantly battling it out in some bizarre way. But there was another side to their relationship as well...a brotherly love that Dave had secretly held deep in his heart and cherished forever. His entire past flashed before him as he recalled snippets of memories from growing up once his brother took him in. All the shenanigans they got into...it's a wonder they never burned the apartment down, really. And through it all, Bro had been there by his side.

_ And now he's gone. _Dave shifted a bit, his stomach clenching again as he felt the blood soaking through his jeans. He stared at his brother's lifeless face, begging any invisible deity who would listen for some sort of miracle that would bring him back. A blink, a twitch..._Anything..._

Dave knew exactly who had done it. Why would he have reason to believe it would be anyone else? But he didn't dwell on thoughts of revenge against Jack or anything like that at all. He just continued to stare at the stiff, pale face before him, not knowing what else to do. There was an unwelcome tightness in his chest that was all but foreign to him, and Dave tried his hardest to stop right then and there, though he knew it was pointless to try. _C'mon man, don't do this. What would he say? What would...what would Bro say if..._

Then the first tear fell. Then another, and another. _Shit. No, stop it. Stop it, you dumbfuck!_ He bit his lip hard, wincing from the pain. Another tear, and another. _Pull it together! Come on! _He clenched his fists in anger, trying desperately to keep his emotions under control, but to no avail. Seconds later, the first sob was choked out. More tears fell; splattered on his jeans as he completely collapsed, hanging his head as his body shook from the intensity of it all. His face grew sticky and wet, and he coughed violently a few times as he wept, still trying and failing to be somewhat discreet about the whole thing.

A few minutes later, tears still rolling down his face, he lifted his head enough to see the sword jutting out of Bro's stomach. He'd been impaled into the ground, by the looks of it. _Oh God... _Dave could practically hear the sickening noise of the flesh being impaled ringing in his ears. _...No...Oh God, please no... _He dropped his head, thinking he would cry again, but instead found himself staring down at his feet, and the blood that surrounded them. _Bro...Bro's blood...oh God..._ Normally he had never been queasy when it came to gore, but this was one battle Dave couldn't win. Thankfully, he was able to crawl over behind a rock several feet away so as not to soil the corpse even more.

Dave couldn't find the energy to move back by his brother's side, so he sat by the rock which reeked of his own vomit for a bit, feeling alone, crushed, and absolutely pathetic. After recovering a bit of energy and becoming determined to stop his sniveling, he dragged himself back over to the body, though not as close as before. He knelt there for awhile in silence. _...What do I do? What would he want me to do? What would he say? God, why can't you just come back...Make some miracles happen...Don't be dead...please..._

He was angry, too. Angry at himself. _I'm so fucking pathetic. All my other friends are out saving the world and shit, and here I am, sitting in my own snot and puke and crying my eyes out like a fucking baby. _He knew it was justified in his heart, however, and the anger quickly subsided, being replaced by sorrow once again. _...But what do I do? _After thinking a bit longer, Dave decided to make an attempt at some kind of closure. He let out a long breath and looked back at his brother's face, trying to pick the right words.

"...Well. Look what you got yourself into now." He tried to chuckle, but it wasn't the least bit sincere. "I guess...I guess you're done now, huh? You're time's up. You're gone.

"You know I'm not good at this sentimental stuff, but...I just...I wanted to make sure you knew that I...loved you. Okay? I wish you were still here so I could say it to your face, but I guess this'll have to do. You were the best bro...that I could've asked for, and-" He paused to swallow thickly. "...I know you didn't want this. You wanted so bad to move out of that dumpy apartment...go somewhere nice and get me a better future. I know you wished that I had legit parents to raise me right...not some dumpy-ass teenager like you." Another pause. "But you know what? You were...the best. Better than any dad or mom could've been. I didn't need them. I had you. You were enough." He wiped at his eyes as his vision went out of focus again. "You were always enough for me."

He couldn't find any other words to say after that. He knew that it wasn't really necessary anyway. Bro would know all he needed to know. He always did. As Dave continued to kneel and make a feeble effort to straighten himself up a bit, his eyes landed on the sword again. _Damn. That thing's in pretty deep. _Should he pull it out? He hesitated. It was always special to Bro, that sword. Maybe he should take it...keep it with him for more sentimental value or whatever.

But then he stopped. _No. He wouldn't want it that way. _Dave reached out just enough so he could lay his hand on the hilt for a moment, as a few more stray tears slipped out from beneath his sunglasses. Silence fell soon after as the young Strider continued to mourn.

He was startled from his thoughts from an alert from his glasses going off. Someone was pestering him. He growled lowly. _There should be a silent mode for these things. _Nonetheless, he responded, though he was not at all thrilled to see the familiar teal text spring up in front of him as he hurriedly dried his face.

_GC: STR1111111D3R_

With a sigh, he begrudgingly replied to Terezi, deeply embarrassed that she was probably able to see him in this state.

_TG: oh my fucking god_

_ GC: WH4T :?_

_TG: what do you mean what_

_ TG: we just got done talking and agreed it would be awesome if you didn't bother me for a while_

_ TG: you know like while i guess i grieved over this brutally murdered rad family member or something_

The conversation continued on as he assumed it would, thought it was harder than he liked to admit to not let the troll's rather blunt questions about his grief get to him. But as it went, Dave found himself able to use the chat as a distraction, which was a great relief in his eyes. He dreaded having to interact with his other friends later, as he knew that they would all likely ask him about the scene. For now, though, Dave Strider was able to keep his composure while talking to Terezi.

For now.


End file.
